libtrek

well, bummer.wonder if that will make our troll shirts collector items? Travel day interesting starting with Detroit airport where cops tasered a guy trying to slit his own throat near us. Then R falling in the plane aisle, no damage. Now in beautiful 1-bedroom suite in Sutton Place. Going to borrow hotel wheelchair for falling-down boy to tour Granville, rain or shine. Well, bummer… will ask Cruin what happened. We are cozied up in our beautiful one-bedroom Sutton suite.

SoHo coho on Creek Street. My family loves the humor of Ray Trolls art on shirts, etc. hoping to meet him this week when we’re with our favorite local guide, Cruin.

Hey, you and me must be of an age. I knew exactly what you meant. Clarabelle ring any bells. Mary Lou

Well, we are at stop 1 for the cruise, Detroit airport hotel before flying to Vancouver in the am. My R is very grouchy and was mumbling loudly in bathroom. Went to help him as he slid sideways into bathtub. I grabbed him so no injuries, but now he’s sideways in tub with feet hanging over side. Managed to get him up finally. This cruise may be a real adventure. Sigh. Mary Lou

Made a sticky note. I’ll be there with my grumpy guy. I told them they’ll have beer (shhh, NA).

Love the strategic clamshells. Never found one, but would enjoy getting one for the grands. What’s wrong with a bit of fun in life?

I did. Had to click on the link to satisfy my curiosity.

Yes, yes! BTW, I actually found little books of post-it notes. I shall bring you a few. R has been a bit mellower lately, hope it continues. I think ice cream in all varieties is a useful bribe. R cannot have booze with his Alzheimer drugs. So, I will be quietly ordering n/a beer, mock Long Island Ice Tea, etc. I just noticed that R has hidden the bolero tie he has been wearing under his shirt for months. Maybe it can stay lost? C U soon. Maltings bar at 4:30 on Monday?

We’ve done Alaska on both Princess and Holland. Liked Princess way better. Found Holland to be kind of stuffy.

Yay, I’ve been waiting for your live review to start. I am a retired librarian (Mary Lou or Libtrek) from Michigan’s Thumb area. I have connected with Yvonne through CC and besides sharing the librarian profession, we each have a crabby man with dementia. My hubs is R, a year older than Dad, and he is, I think, Dad’s brother from another mother. We will be on the same B2B to Alaska. We will be using a Rollator for the first time since Rs back is whacked. Any advice would be appreciated. ML

Thank you, thank you for the encouragement. Many of my family and friends are saying are you nuts? My guy loves Alaska too and for the most part we are taking ship tours. I have an Apple Watch on him that allows me to track wherever he is. I also put a Christmas ornament with jingle bells on the door that rings like crazy whenever the door is open, we are actually doing a B2B cruise so he can settle in better. Again, thank you for the kind thoughts.

Well, we leave in about a week and a half. Because hubs has Alzheimer’s it makes our cruise different than most. I try to simplify everything. The itinerary the Jewell follows is great scenery most of the way, so if we don’t move around much, we still have something to look at. We too are Sapphire so enjoy the extra fancy dinners and free laundry. I can pack less which makes things easier. Any specific questions? Mary Lou

Good question. I would eliminate Carnival, we’ve outgrown them plus they go from Seattle. I would go with Princess or NCL. We tried Celebrity and meh. Lately we’ve done NCL Jewell. Smaller ship, good port times, does inside passage. I like their drink package (included). You do have to pay the tips but if you have a Bloody Mary in the morning, a few drinks during the day, wine with dinner, and a nightcap, you’re ahead. Staff is excellent and the ship was refurbished just pre Covid. Mary Lou

Just a couple thoughts from someone who has done a lot of Alaska cruises both land and sea. 1. You have a bit of time. Suggest you read through a lot of reviews about DIY trips. You might be better to rent a car and pick a specific area to explore. Then get on your cruise. 2. I would suggest you think about a one-way cruise, like Vancouver to Anchorage or something similar. We have found that most round-trip cruises from Seattle have shorter times in port and more open ocean time. 3. You might even want to think about a smaller ship as they do spend longer in port, do the inside passage, and things like that. 4. Pro and con about cruise tours. They are very structured, you will often have to have your bags out early in the morning and then take a long bus ride. On the other hand, if you have never been to Alaska before it might be a good orientation. We started with cruise tours, but then did a DIY. Must say the DIY, even with car rental, was cheaper and we enjoyed doing things on our own pace. 5. You might consider this cruise a one and done. From personal experience, going on our seventh Alaska cruise soon, you might find you just have to go back. L O L. Mary